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Targeted killing of senior Rafah police officials
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The IDF and Shin Bet security agency reported Saturday evening the targeted killing of Ahmed Eliakubi, a prominent Hamas operative, in an airstrike in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
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According to a statement, Eliakubi was "responsible for security provisions for senior Hamas leaders and served as a senior commander in the Rafah district."
Iman Rantisi, a key figure in the terror group’s security investigation unit, was also reportedly eliminated in the strike alongside an additional operative.
The IDF and Shin Bet's statement effectively confirms earlier Palestinian reports about the death of three senior Rafah police officers.
According to Palestinian sources, Eliakubi was in a vehicle attacked in Rafah's Tel al-Sultan neighborhood, with Rantisi, his deputy, and Ibrahim Shatat, the "supply investigations department head."
In an interview with Al Jazeera following the attack, Rafah Mayor Ahmed al-Sufi called upon the international community on Saturday morning to prevent the impending Israeli operation in Rafah.
"We appeal to the international community and anyone with a conscience to stop the killing of Palestinians,” he said. “Any military action in the most densely populated city, home to 1.4 million Palestinians, will lead to a massacre and bloodbath."
Hamas warned that Israel might conduct "widespread and horrific massacres in Rafah." "The U.S. government's stance of not supporting the attack on Rafah does not absolve it from full responsibility for the consequences of this attack and the massacres of unarmed civilians that resulted, effectively providing open support to the occupation with arms," Hamas said.
In addition to the strike that killed three senior Rafah police officials, another airstrike was reported in the Rafah area Saturday afternoon. A police vehicle was targeted east of Rafah, killing two according to Palestinian reports.